why there is a concept of article in most of the romance languages while there is no such concept in Latin.

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why there is a concept of article in most of the romance languages while there is no such concept in Latin.

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2 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

I do not have enough knowledge on this, it is too many years ago, but maybe this is the best answer you will get. 🙂

I guess written Latin (literature, also important speeches) was meant for educated people who were supposed to know who is meant by a verb, without using redundant articles or pronouns. The Romance languages use articles and pronouns derived from actually existing expressions like “ille”/”illa” (“this” or “he”/”she”) which may have been more common in vulgar Latin, I don’t know.

Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s been a while since I studied r/latin, but my understanding is that the definite articles in the modern Romance languages (and possibly also “the” in English through Roman contact with various Germanic tribes) are descended from *ille, illa, illud* in Latin.